Gangs of Wasseypur

Gangs of Wasseypur directed by the master of dark films Anurag Kashyap is one of the best satire movie I have seen. It’s the saga of bullet filled revenge between two men that lasted for around 3 generations. The way Kashyap has structured this film is the best thing about it. The movie cannot be said as a story with beginning and ending. It is a look at the incidents that happend in Wasseypur for almost a decade.

Just like typical Kashyap movies, GOW is also a blood filled, brutal thriller. But the overall movie has a satire feel that will make the audience realize the pity side of revenge. The movie opens with the time were the British ruled us. Ramadhir Singh was a British Aid and he administrated coal mines in Dhanbad. When the British left India, Ramadhir got the ownership of the industries and he assigns the Shahid Khan to administrate his coal mines. Shahid Khan who flew from Wasseypoor after being caught for using the identity of Sultana for stealing British goods was really in a mood to take revenge on the Qureshis who flew him. His plan was to finish Ramadhir and take the power. Knowing this tactic, Ramadhir decides to finish Shahid Khan. But Shahid’s helper Farhan and his son Sardar Khan manages to escape from Ramadhir’s attack. Thus begins the story of revenge. Sardar Khan wants to kill Ramadhir and eventually it is done by his son Faizal Khan.

The outline is very simple and straight forward. But the number of characters in the movie is the part that makes it interesting. Only Ramadhir Singh and Farhan are the characters that manage to travel across all generations. But even the other characters have managed to get a spot in our mind because of the strong background that Anurag gives. The nonsense side of revenge is also shown pretty neatly. There is a scene were Sardar hears a complaint from a girl about the bad deeds of guys from a Patan girl while he is looking at his second wife Durga’s back with pure lust. Many sarcastic jokes are there. If I have to list it out there will be plenty as it is merged to the story line. The Sultan killing sequence, the portion that shows Perpendicular’s deeds etc are ROFL stuff.

If you are looking at Part 1 and 2 separately, my personal favorite will be the second one. Because the attitude of the movie is more visible in the second one. While the first one takes its time to justify the revenge in many angles, the second part makes the audience analyze it. And also the Faizal Khan saga has some nice complications that will make the viewer think beyond the visuals. The way Ramadhir explains his role in this entire saga through the names of old film actors is also a lovely interpretation.

Performance wise it is power packed. Awesome on screen portrayal by Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia. Rest of the cast was also superb. Even the child artist were spot on casting in terms of performance.

In the making, Anurag has followed his signature style of dark comedy and love for brutal bloodshed scenes. The film is rightly A certified for its content. Screenplay has very few flaws in my view. Considering the depth of the story, they should be acknowledged. Dialogs are super cool, funny and adult. Rajeev Ravi’s camera work was descent and a special mention for editor Shweta Vekat for the hard work. The only possible negative I felt is the slicing of the movie in to two parts. Personally I believe that it should be watched as a single movie of 5 hour plus duration.

Overall GOW is a beautiful satire that gives some cool interpretation to the concept of revenge. Its brutal, its ugly, its smart, its dark but it’s a unique experience. 4 out of 5 is my rating. Strictly not for the daily soap lovers.